Adrian Grenier Joins Oceana to Save Bluefin Tuna

by Annie Hartnett · 2010-07-15 12:45:00 UTC
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If I could build my dream man, he would be passionate about preserving wildlife and he would look like Adrian Grenier, the star from HBO's Entourage.  So when I discovered that the real Adrian Grenier is a passionate environmentalist, I was thrilled.

Adrian Grenier is currently featured in a new Oceana campaign to stop the drastic population decline of Atlantic bluefin tuna. Four decades of overfishing has driven bluefin tuna numbers to critically low levels. Their population is further threatened by the oil spill in the Gulf, where Bluefin tuna spawn. The Center For Biological Diversity filed for endangered species status for the fish in May.

Unlike most fish, Atlantic bluefin tuna are warm-blooded, and this allows them to live in both the cold waters and tropical waters. They have a wide migratory range; fish have have been tracked swimming from North American to European waters several times a year. They can swim up to 43 miles per hour, and feed on fish, crustaceans, squid, and eels.

Grenier explained his motivation for participating in the campaign to save these fish: “I couldn’t sit back idly while this amazing predator is being pushed to the brink of extinction. We are fishing bluefin at alarming rates, and now their spawning grounds are also threatened by the oil spill in the Gulf. We need to take action and keep the bluefin from going fast."

Bluefin tuna are caught faster than they can reproduce because a single fish sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars in Japanese sashimi markets. The fish could face a swift extinction with their spawning grounds tainted by oil; bluefin tuna begin to spawn at the end of April and continue throughout the summer. In oil tainted waters, very few tuna are likely to survive to adulthood.

It may take years for Atlantic bluefin tuna to be granted endangered species status, precious time that the bluefin doesn't have. Policy change will come with public awareness. Adrian Grenier is doing his part to publicize the fish's fight against extinction by working as the GQ’s Gentlemen’s Fund ambassador for Oceana. A modern gentleman, indeed.

Photo Credit: Oceana PSA

Annie Hartnett is a writer and animal advocate who has worked for several wildlife rehabilitation centers and environmental programs.

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